r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • Oct 06 '24
The Bersey Electric Cab company was a full float of electric taxis for the city of London who at their height had 75 cars in service. Ran from August 19, 1897 to August of 1899. Those could go at 20 kh, and carry 2 people.
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u/Klutzy-Chain5875 Oct 06 '24
The Bersey electric cabs, which were introduced in London in 1897 by Walter Bersey, had a range of around 30 miles (48 kilometers) on a full charge. These early electric vehicles were nicknamed "Hummingbirds" due to the sound they made while operating. However, they were not very successful due to limitations in battery technology at the time, which caused frequent breakdowns and required long recharging times. The fleet was eventually discontinued by 1900. That's three years only folks.
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Oct 06 '24
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u/AnnoymousAF99 Oct 07 '24
I loved that TV series! I wish they’d continue it, 2 seasons wasn’t enough 🥲
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Oct 06 '24
You had to tap in oyester card made up of wood to get in 😅😅
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Oct 06 '24
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u/Neil_Hillist Oct 06 '24
"clean".
Used batteries made from lead plates and sulfuric acid, which release hydrogen-sulfide when charged. If that gas is released into the atmosphere can reduce insolation, (i.e. change climate).
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Oct 06 '24
Although no clean as you mentioned, Lead acid batteries are at least recyclable and reusable. Gas and diesel are not, once used its gone. Modern batteries do not vent gases and as well as lead acid, are recyclable and reusable.
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u/ramriot Oct 06 '24
There is a common confusion here, the battery is the fuel tank not the fuel. If I were to extend your analogy I would say that the fuel tanks on ICE cars could be recycled too.
I think a better way to address green claims is to consider the whole product over its whole life, including its fuel & the total costs involved.
Today an EV being fueled from a greater & greater fraction of renewable sources & designed to be recycled, minus the cost of production is better than an ICE vehicle fueled by fossil fuels.
Back in the late 19th century, when electricity was almost entirely generated by burning coal, there were no ICE cabs in London until 1903 so the commensurate comparison would be the horse drawn cab. Making that comparison would seem to favour the horse over the EV.
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Oct 06 '24
Oh yah…. You are 100% right. Even today, there is still a large portion of people, who’s fuel/energy/grid is derived from fossil fuels anyways. So really… But the signs are there and the “free” market is decidedly moving away, albeit slow but things do not happen overnight
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u/ramriot Oct 06 '24
I agree, it is an oft stated truism that as we progress your average EV will get greener & more efficient, while over the same time period an ICEV will do the exact opposite.
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u/theOGlib Oct 06 '24
And, how many emissions it took to get the materials from underground, to being a car, and being put on the market.
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u/WloveW Oct 06 '24
Imagine how much faster battery recycling technology would have gone if it had caught hold before internal combustion engines though. We would be light years ahead of where we are now.
It's easy to pooh pooh on the ancient battery tech, but clearly the gas/oil tech already has ruined the planet for everyone, when we would have likely had cleaner energy and environment all around if batteries, geothermal and solar had won more political battles 50-100 years ago.
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Oct 06 '24
Not to mention all the hire electric bikes and scooters thrown into every fucking waterway in the world. How is that good for the environment
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u/rocketmn69_ Oct 06 '24
Imagine where we would be today if battery technology had been worked on all this time? We could probably travel across country on I charge, or travel a day on a watch battery. The combustion engine pretty much killed the electric vehicle by 1920.
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u/Eric848448 Oct 06 '24
Modern battery and power management systems rely on integrated circuits that weren’t really cheap-ish until the 90’s.
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u/rocketmn69_ Oct 06 '24 edited Oct 06 '24
But, my point is, if they kept on it, we would have been light years ahead
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Oct 06 '24
The first cars were steam and electric powered with electric cars being the most popular of the bunch until ICE engines just became clearly superior in the 1910s or so. Remember writing a report on this, had some interesting reads.
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u/Laymanao Oct 06 '24
Kudos to the investors and the engineers who had vision and passion. I wonder if any survivors can be found today
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u/Emotional_Fescue Oct 06 '24 edited Oct 06 '24
Bot account - misspellings in post to avoid filters
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u/VelvetVibeQueen Oct 06 '24
It's crazy to think that electric cabs existed in the 1800s! Imagine if they had stuck around—our whole transportation system might look completely different today. It's like a glimpse of the future that just didn’t catch on back then.
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u/hhfugrr3 Oct 06 '24
There was an electric bus fleet in London too in the early 1900s. They swapped out the batteries rather than recharging in the vehicle.
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u/LinguoBuxo Oct 06 '24
If the battery died en-route, they could deploy a horse to take it back home. Thoughtful design choice!
Also, being this old, and working in London specifically, one marvels over the question: Why hadn't they gotten into a Sherlock Holmes story or three??